​Timeless Significance For Every Day

The Elusive Miss Ellison by Carolyn MillerREGENCY BRIDES A Legacy of Grace

The heroine, Lavinia Ellison, shines on the pages of Carolyn’s Regency historical, as well as the hero, Nicholas, Earl of Hawkebury. The layers of the character’s personalities spurred on by challenges mixed with the intriguing regency time period make for a captivating and interesting tale that I’m proud to advise readers to read! I have been longing for more Jane Austin for so long and feel that Carolyn Miller’s quality of story, humor, and engaging personalities has rescued that longing and turned my attention to anticipate more of the same! I didn’t like being interrupted when I stepped into the time warp that landed me inside Lavinia home, walks, and interactions and the Earl’s wonderful Hall! Don’t worry, I forgive all of you who called or interrupted my pleasurable time within this jewel of a story. You didn’t know what you were doing after all! 😊

Come into this worthy tale and enjoy Midnight, the Earl’s horse, as well as Aunt Patience, Mrs. Foster, and so many others. Carolyn Miller is a storyteller of merit! When I browsed for a good read among Kregel Publications, I was thrilled indeed to find this first of the REGENCY BRIDES, A Legacy of Grace series in their selections!

QUESTIONS FOR CAROLYN:

When did the desire to write grip your heart? (I am so glad that it did!)

My writing journey started back in 2010, when I was watching the closing ceremony of the Vancouver Winter Olympics and saw an Australian girl walk into the stadium holding hands with a US competitor, and I wondered ‘what was their story?’ Despite my bestresearch efforts, I couldn’t find out, so I wrote their story, a contemporary romance. Not knowing what to do with it, I started submitting to contests, receiving positive feedback, wrote other stories, started winning, wrote a Regency novel (I love Jane Austen’s novels), won more contests, secured an agent, and last year finally saw my Regency novel The Elusive Miss Ellison published. It’s been a long journey for this Aussie writer!

Who is your greatest inspiration for your writing career?

Good question! I’ve a number of people I greatly admire for their writing talent and ability to weave stories into series, like Becky Wade, Susan May Warren, Roseanna M. White. One person who I consider something of a mentor is Carrie Turansky, a lovely historical author who has helped this newbie in many ways to learn about the often times overwhelming US publishing industry. Her graciousness is something I want to emulate when I grow up!

Do you cook or bake regency dishes? Do you have a recipe to share?

Sorry – no!

If you were to write your personality into story – what time period would that be and what type of plot would complement your character?

Um, I think I might have already done so. Lavinia is a bit like me! (But then, I share a few traits with quite a few of my leading ladies :) J) I love the Regency era (1811-1820 England) and I enjoy music, art, travel. I think a story of discovery, learning about new places, would suit me very well – especially if there’s lots of nice food to try along the way!

What do you like best about The Elusive Miss Ellison—only answer that if it will not spoil the story for others.

I love Nicholas, the seventh Earl of Hawkesbury. I think his journey is a little Mr. Darcy-esque (coincidence? I think not). I also have lots of readers tell me they enjoy the witty banter, which makes me smile – it’s a relief to know others share my slightly warped sense of humor.

What character do you identify with most in this novel?

Lavinia! Although at times I can also be like Catherine Winthrop (who, coincidentally, has her own story coming out March 27!). I’ve struggled (still do!) with knowing what is God’s will and wanting to do things my way, and I think her battle makes her relatable and real.

If you could visit anywhere in the world where would it be?

Later this year I’m getting the chance to visit the US and Canada! I’ve been wanting to go to the ACFW conference for years, so this year I’m finally heading to Nashville (come say hi to me!) My family (hubby and 4 kids) will join me later and we’ll head up to Vancouver to visit my sister, which will be AWESOME! (Can you tell I’m excited?)As for other travel, I’d love to visit Europe and see more of the UK. So many places are on my wish list!

I see by browsing your WEB page www.carolynmiller.org that you have another series on the way! I comfort myself by knowing I only have another month to wait for the next novel. What would you like to tell us about this new series?

This new series concerns Catherine Winthrop and her sister, Serena, and their family, on their quest from tragedy to finding hope. Each novel in the trilogy focuses on a different character with their own different personality quirks and challenges. Sweet and shy Catherine Winthrop’s story Winning Miss Winthrop releases March 27, while her artistic sister has her own story, Miss Serena’s Secret, which releases July 24, and the third novel, The Making of Mrs. Hale, releases November 27.

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Susan Marlene is published in Splickety Love Magazine, The Novice and newspapers. She writes devotions, fiction, and nonfiction. She is a member and co-founder of Pens of Praise Christian Writers Group. She is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW) and Lighthouse Christian Writers. She speaks at writers groups and prepares devotions and teachings often for Pens of Praise Christian Writers, and was a former member of Jerry Jenkins Writers Guild. She is a wife, mother, grandmother and At-Risk Teacher’s Aide. She loves antiques and misses training her Leonberger, who in turn loved to train her. But don't tell the cat, she thinks she has everyone under control.